Can you live without Internet for two weeks

Well the council has accidentally cut my neighborhood internet cable when they were re-doing the footpath.
Telstra came and fix everyone internet and phone line except mine :(.
For me, they said there's a problem with the "lead in" issues and Optus (I'm a optus customer) will inform me by Friday when it will be fix.
So I've been without internet or phone for one and a half week now and they can't give me a date when it will be fix.

It's driving me NUTS.
I've been buying phone data from Kogan (and using kogan sim) as it cheaper than optus just to get by.
What kind of compensation I can expect from them?

Update:
Got SMS from OPtus: "Due to high workload your fault booking has been rescheduled: It should be now be completed by 7PM 12/09/17."

So now for a temperately fix: OPtus has offer me a wifi dongle with 5GB of data. Once it use up, I can top it up and they told me there's no definite amount number i can top up (which I thought that is strange) as long as I keep all my receipt and claim it back from the bill.

Comments

  • +3

    No.

  • Can you live without food for 2 weeks? Yes, but you wont enjoy it.

    When Optus went down for me a while back they provided me with a temporary wireless 4g package after a fair bit of complaining.

    • +1

      Cool..thanks I will ask for this to see if I can get it too..

      • +1

        You should be able to wangle this. Optus not providing the service is not your issue.

  • +1
  • no not even for two hours

  • +1

    I did - with iiNet when they cocked up.

    • +1

      Same here, several years ago, with iiNet.

  • I recently bought a new unit in a triplex and the developers "forgot" to get Telstra to put phone cabling into each unit, the builders put a conduit in but that's it. Telstra have told us their project takes 12 weeks. The 12 weeks hasn't started yet and we've been living there almost 2 months. Telstra won't touch it until the developers fix up some issues first, which they've only just started working on.

    It's driving me absolutely insane too, the best I can do is buy half price Kogan/Optus/Voda/Lebara SIM cards and use those. The only other option is to get a fixed wireless install but the start up costs are usually $400 and they'll have to come and install an antenna on the roof and cable it through, which isn't really a commercially viable thing for only a few months of internet access. I'm not in a Vivid Wireless coverage area (nor Optus Wireless Home Broadband), even though I'm <15km from the CBD.

    The 2 weeks you're without internet is really nothing in the grand scheme of things for me OP, sorry :P
    The only plus side is I have gigabit fibre at work, but that doesn't help when I want to stream Netflix at 7pm from my couch.

    • Yes..After reading your post my two weeks seem pretty small.
      I have developed a few properties, your developer probably "Forgot" because he didn't want to fork out $6k for each units to Telstra.
      As a new rules just past in by the government that all developer have to pay to Telstra for "NBN ready" cabling.
      When I saw my bill at the time my face went "RED"

      • They are first time developers, so they didn't realise what their obligations were. As soon as it was pointed out to them they were very apologetic and got Telstra out quick smart to provide a quote, it wasn't quite as much as your 6k but it was only just under that.

    • I just got the Telstra Frontier Gateway, to avoid these sort of issues and downtime when moving.
      got the gateway, turned it on, 5 min later netflix was on the TV, had to buffer a bit to begin with (6MBps backup connection), but nothing to get upset about.

      as far as temporary mobile data, check out Vodafone prepaid add-ons

      basically choose how much you need and buy the add-on with you visa\mastercard, or pre-purchased credit.
      one of the cheapest single day high data usage amounts that i have seen.

      Optus has 100gb for $70 Month to Month plans here

  • What kind of compensation I can expect from them?

    From who? Oh it doesn't matter, you'll basically get ZERO from anyone.

    You can ask Optus nicely and they may give you a free months credit on your bill or they might not.

  • +1

    Might be a blessing in disguise

  • +1

    Currently dealing with Telstra to replace a cable modem that failed.

    Naturally this is an almost impossible task for Australia's largest and most expensive ISP so it's coming up to a week now with no service.

    It sucks.

    It wouldn't surprise if it was purposeful given the crap Ive gone through so far where I speak to various people and repeatedly do the same things over and over as if no one is recording anything and various ETAs being given.

    Ive already paid them, having no sevice is a win for them.

  • I lived without internet for a week. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/324037

    I think I probably could if I wasn't working, but it won't be pleasant. I did got by with all these discounted first month sims on Ozb and put them in my old smartphone as a hotspot luckily, so I was roughly $15 out of pocket "buying" data.

  • I dont think i can. I'd go to the local library to use net if i have to.

  • i lost power the other day and left my phone at work. I felt so lost and bored i went to sleep. Don't want to live in a world without internet.

  • +1

    I still haven't gotten over the last time I had to reboot my router.

    Like, no internet for minutes! Minutes!! MINUTES!!!!

    Dark times indeed.

  • +1

    We had connectivity issues with Optus for 2 weeks. They compensated us with $150+ account credit despite not lodging any complaints.

  • About two hours…… at a stretch

  • Imagine it as a detox period. No internet for two weeks. You can do it.

    Maybe having a little bit of mobile data will wean you off the internet slowly.

  • Can you live without Internet for two weeks

    No. Get the cheap 4G SIMs ready.

  • i would have said "yes" until my phone died 2 days ago, and i've changed my mind. it sucks

  • There's more to life than 'internet'. shows you just how Technology-addicted society has become.

  • it's ok when travelling or camping because there's other things to distract me. But probably not everyday. guess that shows I don't keep myself distracted enough in everyday life!! something to think about i guess.

  • Two weeks? I couldn't do two hours!

    The internet is my life blood, it's what allows me to work and make a living wherever I am in the world.

    Without the internet, I'll die of starvation…
    Literally.

  • 3 minutes

  • no and neither can anyone else if the tasmania's great basslink cable episode and the great ISP migration that followed is anything to go by, internet wasn't even out it was just ridiculously slow (it might as well have been out at peak) and people still went nuts

  • +2

    Two weeks not a problem, once went 29 years without internet. Moved house early this year took telstra 6 weeks to hook up new NBN thanks to the screw ups that worked at the telstra store.

  • +1

    No, I'd die!

  • Some many alternatives these days to wired internet. I really dont see any problem

  • Go to the local library

    • Make friends with some maesters and find a cure for greyscale.

  • When the NBN contractors came to make my Telstra cable connection 'NBN ready', they ended up cutting off my connection and I was without internet and Foxtel for just over 3 weeks. Telstra were pretty hopeless in their efforts to fix it and without the help of one of their field technicians who was pretty determined to solve the problem it could have been much longer.

    Did we survive? Well yes but my kids are still in therapy. The first days were the worst but gradually I adjusted (kids never did). However it was very inconvenient - I had to decamp to the coffee shop to use their wi-fi and carry out essential duties (email, banking, ozbargain, etc.).

  • I can't get a line connection where I live and my neighbors have the NBN. No word on when I can get it also. I have lived on mobile data for a year and half, kill me now. I use https://www.jeenee.org.au/products/data-sims/.

    Edit: Too far away for wireless, satellite installation is in the works but it's expensive. Just looking at moving house instead, it really shouldn't come to this when I live ten minutes from the CBD of a major town.

  • wow living without internet for 2 weeks is a killer for me. i can maybe survive for 1 week tops.

  • Travelling for 2 month aussie roadtrip, I had no internet for most. No probs, find other things to do that are fun :-)

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